Plastic ships that can become see-through, electro-magnetic weapons with a
range of hundreds of miles and torpedoes that travel at 300 knots, just some
of the ideas for warships of the future

Warships of the future could be built from ultra-strong plastic and graphene, armed with weapons that fire at the speed of light and operated by crews a fraction of the size needed by current vessels.

The proposals are just some of the ideas from naval architects and engineers who were tasked by the Royal Navy and Ministry of Defence to imagine how the future fleet might look.

The challenge was issued by Startpoint, the new procurement group which brings together experts in naval defence from government, military and industry to provide advanced technology against a backdrop of tightening budgets.

HMS Dreadnought rewrote the rules for warships when she entered service in 1906

Ideas included vessels built out of acrylic ultra-tough composites which are not only lighter than metal, but could be switched between being opaque to transparent by running an electric current through them. This would allow the crew to see through the hull, improving control of close-in battles and improved vision when manoeuvring.

Wonder material graphene could be used to increase the strength of ships, as well coating hulls to reduce drag, meaning they could sail faster and use less fuel.

A trimaran hull gives the ships a menacing appearance Engineers also considered ballast tanks that could be filled with water so the ships sat much lower in the water, making them stealthy and smaller targets, when they were not being driven at high speeds by waterjets powered by fusion reactors.

Conventional masts could be abandoned for a drone carrying sensors such as radar. This would be connected to the ship by a tether made from cryogenically-cooled carbon nanotubes which would transmit power to aircraft’s motors and also energy weapons such as lasers, which could knock enemy missiles out of the sky.

Masts could be replaced by drones which are tethered to the ship

Naval architects also suggested arming the ships with electro-magnetic “railguns”, which fire projectiles as far as today’s cruise missile fly, rows of missile tubes along the ship’s sides which launch hypersonic missiles at speeds of Mach 5-plus, and supercavitating torpedoes which travel at 300 knots because they are encases in a bubble of gas which reduces friction.

They also considered future systems inside ships, including the operations room, the nerve centre of warships and from which its weapons and sensors are controlled and co-ordinated. A holographic command centre would dominate this space, and commanders would be able to zoom in on areas and change the point, meaning they could focus on land, sea or air.

The ships could have fleets of small drones, which replace current helicopters

The operations room would have superfast data connections to the rest of the fleet and aircraft, along with headquarters, meaning operations could be commanded from thousands of miles away.

Using such advanced technology is expected to cut the number of crew required from about 200 on a contemporary warship to as few 50.

The operations room could be dominated by a holographic command table

Commander Steve Prest, the Royal Navy’s fleet robotics officer said: “We welcome a project that allows some of Britain’s best and brightest young engineers to come up with ideas on what a warship might look like or be equipped with in 2050. We want to attract the best new talent to sea to operate, maintain and develop systems with this level of ambition.”

The ships could have a 'garage' at the stern to launch smaller boats from

Muir Macdonald, a Startpoint senior executive said: “While some of these technologies push today’s boundaries in science and engineering, there is no reason why elements could not be incorporated into future designs.

“The country needs visionary, innovative thinking and these concepts point the way to cutting-edge technology which can be acquired at less cost and operated with less manpower.”